Peshwari Naan

Stewart Payne writes on 6th January 2007...

The driver of a National Express coach which overturned near Heathrow, killing two passengers and maiming others, was released yesterday after being questioned on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.

Philip Rooney, 47, from Carluke, Lanarkshire, was bailed until Feb 21 pending further inquiries.

A relative of Mr Rooney's said yesterday: "We all feel extremely sorry for anyone who lost a loved one on the bus crash. It is very difficult. Our family is suffering too."

Later, his stepson, Richard Gordon, described him as a "careful and conscientious driver".

"Phil would not knowingly put his passengers at risk.

"Phil is a family man who is shattered by what has happened and the way this has affected everyone."

Investigators continued to examine the double-decker coach and take statements from passengers. Many have claimed that the coach, en-route to Scotland and full of returning holidaymakers, appeared to be travelling too fast as it took a bend on a slip road to join the M25 late on Wednesday night.

Christina Toner, 76, from Dundee, died from her injuries. Police appealed for help from the public in identifying the second victim.

The man is described as oriental, in his mid-20s, between 5ft 6in and 5ft 8in, with black hair which is short at the sides and longer on top. He was wearing a string necklace with two fish-type emblems.

National Express has taken its fleet of 11 remaining Neoplan Skyliner double-decker coaches out of service as a precaution for safety checks.

A spokeswoman denied a report that the coach was on its maiden journey, saying it had been in service for three months.

Stagecoach, another coach operator, said it was carrying out "precautionary checks" on all 50 Neoplan Skyliner vehicles in its fleet.

Four people were still described as critically ill in various hospitals yesterday. They include a mother whose arm was amputated. Her two young children also lost limbs.

Survivors gave harrowing accounts of the crash.

Peter Grimes, 45, who was on his way to visit a friend in Dundee, said: "I thought to myself right at that moment, he's not going to make it round this bend. I braced myself." Mr Grimes, a builder, lost consciousness for a few minutes after the coach overturned. When he came round "it was mayhem, it was carnage", he said.

He said he crawled out from under his fellow passengers, lifting one of them up so he could get his legs out.

He helped carry one of the men next to him along the bus so the emergency services were able to lift him out. "I went back and I got the second man out as well."

Esther Addley and Kim Willsher write on 6th January 2007 ...

Fresh doubts were expressed yesterday about the safety of double-decker coaches, following the National Express crash close to Heathrow in which two passengers were killed and dozens injured. An unnamed driver with the company claimed drivers had experienced problems with stability in the past.

"We had a few that would just go up the motorway rocking, others with the steering axle on the rear that wouldn't lock into place," he told a TV station in Plymouth. "It was like driving on ice." National Express said it was looking into the claims but was not aware of any specific problems. It has withdrawn all 12 of its Neoplan Skyliner coaches for checks.

Rival operator Stagecoach is keeping its fleet of 50 on the road but has also been carrying out additional checks. A company statement said: "We have no information which suggests there is a defect."

All double-deckers have to undergo Department of Transport stability tests. They must be able to tilt 28 degrees with the top deck full and the bottom deck empty, without tipping over.

The family of Philip Rooney, who was driving the Heathrow coach when it crashed, spoke out last night. "Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone that has been affected," said Mr Rooney's stepson, Richard Gordon.

"Phil would not knowingly put his passengers at risk and has always been a careful and conscientious driver, who takes pride in his job." Mr Rooney, who was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving after the crash, was released on bail yesterday.

The double-decker involved in the crash was the same model that overturned in heavy rain in May 2003 in southern France, killing 28 German tourists in one of Europe's worst coach crashes.

Following the French crash, a report recommended that drivers operating double-deck coaches should have special training and that the vehicle's structure should be reinforced. A separate study found that double-deck coaches were much more likely to overturn in a crash than single-deck vehicles.

Police have been unable to identify one of those who died. The man is described as oriental, in his mid-20s and between 5ft 6in and 5ft 8in. The other victim was Christine Toner, 76, from Dundee. Her husband Jimmy, 80, a former footballer with Dundee and Leeds United, was injured. Four passengers remained in a critical condition in hospital. Among those were a boy, three, and girl, seven months, believed to be from the same family.

As inquiries continued into the M4 crash, a British ski tour leader was seriously hurt and two other Britons injured in a crash in the French Alps early yesterday. The man suffered severe head injuries when he was flung through the windscreen as a coach skidded on ice and collided with roadside barriers. The coach is not thought to have been a double-decker and did not overturn.

subdereality writes on 4th January 2007...

It's a National Express coach crash on the motorway from London Heathrow to Aberdeen in which two passengers died and dozens of others are seriously injured.

Just barely 5 days ago, I boarded a National Express coach from Leicester to London, and along the way, I felt unsettled and uneasy. I kept feeling for my seatbelt to make sure that it was in place. The weather outside was rainy and gloomy, and I kept thinking that a coach crash might happen. Surely I wouldn't be so unlucky to be in a coach crash?

The ringing of my mobile interrupted my thoughts. It was yingci who was freaking out over the phone because she couldn't manage to buy the ingredients to make the dish that she was preparing for her dinner party that night. I reassured her and gave her some other alternative ideas. Barely minutes after hanging up, the coach ground to a halt.

*Surely I wouldn't be so unlucky to be stuck in a broken-down coach?* I thought. Seconds later, the coach driver announced that the coach had indeed broken down. I kept repeating in my mind why I was so unlucky to be in this coach. In such incidences, you see people getting uncivilised and unruly over being the first to get onto another coach to continue their journey. The coach driver did a commendable job by transferring all the passengers to other coaches heading towards London.

Along the way, I was thinking, *At least it was just a coach break-down. It wasn't an accident. It wasn't a crash. I'll just live to see the new year.*

Morbid, I know.

Then, barely 48 hours ago, I boarded a National Express coach from London to Leicester. This time, I kept fantasising of another coach crash, and what I should do in such an event. I have taken the coach numerous times, and I had never thought of the coach crashing. Putting on my earphones, I listened to some music whilst trying to block those unsettling thoughts out of my head. Three hours later, I reached Leicester safely. I put everything down to me feeling tired and unwell.

And now, the coach crash has happened and everything felt like a rush of deja-vu. Only if the coach that crashed was the one that I boarded....

This unfortunate incident has made me realise again how much God loves me, and that I am fortunate enough to be sitting here, writing out my thoughts.

xxxaffy writes on 4th January 2007...

owen: she was with me when big ben struck midnight signaling the start of 2007.. she was with me for 3 more days.. she made me feel my age, she showed me new things, fun and exciting.. she made me do things i had never done before but it was all good.. =].. then.. THIS happened.. my angel was on that piece of shit. should have been me not her.. im never gonna stop blaming myself that she got hurt, id seen signs.. saying that she shouldnt have gone onto that coach! she got her mum to call me and tell me and her mother called me twice and text me once, gave me a temp number so i could call her.. she was one of the lucky ones! it was so so weird tho.. cuz like the day she was gonna go we both cried a few times? we NEVER cry.. and then when i looked at her ticket i asked why she didnt have life insurance and she was like i dunno and then i was like saying "dont leave me" when normally i say "dont go" and then at heathrow i showed her how the couch was parked one wheel on the pavement where it shouldnt be and all fucked up and bent.. then just after the crash i text her saying "hey are you okay? do you want me to call you?" and that was like JUST after the crash but i didnt know about the crash?! and her mum had said to her to fly to london too but then she didnt? so there were like a million signs warning us/her to not get onto that coach but we didnt see them at the time.. then like on the coach she was gonna ask the dude next to her if she could sit near the window but for some reason she didnt ask! and cuz the coach went over to the side she was on, the dude next to her where she wanted to sit cracked his fucking head open!! that could have been owen!!! fucking so so so SOOOOO scary! sigh she just wanted to get out of the hospital so national express provided her with a taxi and she turned up at my door at 6ish am =] we slept for like 2 and a half hours and then just spent the rest of the time talking and stuff! which was good, but im never gonna stop blaming myself for it..

video of National Express coach crash was posted on 4th January 2007 on the website You Tube.

Barrie Clement writes on 5th January 2007 ...

The driver of a double-decker coach that crashed, killing two people, has been arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving after allegedly taking a bend too quickly. The London to Aberdeen coach toppled over as it travelled eastwards along a slip road from the M4 towards the M25 near Heathrow, tearing off some passengers' limbs.

A friend of an injured passenger spoke about the accident as he went to visit Eddy Loney, 37, in hospital in west London. He said of his friend: " He is surprised that only two people died. There was blood everywhere, apparently."

Other survivors spoke of the bus going "a bit too fast in wet conditions ". One said it felt as if a tyre had burst. The bus is being examined by crash investigators.

Last night National Express said its entire fleet of 12 double-decker coaches would be withdrawn from service immediately as a precaution. The vehicles will be given safety checks.

Several passengers lost limbs in the crash and at least one woman had an arm amputated later. A 73-year-old man returning to the Isle of Skye after celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary described how he saw his 70-year-old wife "fly past" him as the coach overturned. Afterwards, Gordon Welsh could only reach out and touch his wife Audrey's hair to let her know he was there.

One victim was identified as Christina Munro Toner, 76, of Dundee. The second fatality was described as a man in his late twenties. A spokesman for St Mary's Hospital in Paddington said a three-and-a-half-year-old boy and a seven-month-old girl were "critical but stable" in intensive care.

A total of 36 people were understood to have been taken to Hillingdon Hospital. Three were still seriously ill. Twenty one were released yesterday.

"We've had spinal injuries, we've had major head injuries and we've had limb trauma," David Houlihan-Burne, a surgeon, said. "These patients were clearly thrown or dragged along grass or mud because there was heavy contamination of all the wounds."

James Lant said his stepbrother, Michael Milbourne, who is being treated at Hillingdon Hospital for a fractured vertebra, told him the coach was coming on to the slip road when it "veered to the left then right and then it just lost control".

Mr Lant said: "He said that after the accident he'd woken up and found a young blonde girl laid on top of him and he was afraid the man next to him might have been dead because he had a glazed look on his face."

Greg Grimes, a teenager, said his father Peter, 45, from Fulham, west London, had helped to stop three passengers falling from the coach during the accident.

Of the 16 people taken to Charing Cross Hospital, four were still being treated and one required major surgery. Seven were taken to West Middlesex Hospital, in Isleworth, west London, including a one-year-old and a two-year-old.

After hospital treatment the driver, aged 40, was arrested at 11.30am yesterday. He was interviewed at a police station in Berkshire.

The coach was the 10.30pm National Express 592 from London Victoria, although it was contracted out to Plymouth-based Trathens, part of the Scottish bus company Park's of Hamilton.

The chief executive of National Express, Richard Bowker, said that the firm took "serious precautions" against accidents. He said: "This was a very new vehicle so it was fitted with seatbelts in every seat."

Esther Addley and Hugh Muir write on 5th January 2007...

A mother and her two young children are all believed to have lost limbs in a horrific crash after a National Express coach overturned near Heathrow, killing two passengers.

Rescue workers said the woman, her seven-month-old daughter and three-year-old son lost arms or legs in the wreckage of the double-decker which went out of control on a sliproad linking the M4 to the M25.

The 40-year-old driver of the coach, which was travelling from Victoria coach station in London to Aberdeen via Heathrow, has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. Some witnesses said the coach had been running late after a delay at Heathrow airport and was travelling at high speed in wet conditions.

The impact of the crash caused many passengers to be dragged along the motorway, and several others also had arms or legs severed in the force of the crash or suffered head or spinal injuries. Investigators will be looking into how many of the passengers were wearing seat belts, which have been compulsory for passengers over the age of 14 since last September. It is thought that many on the coach were not strapped in.

All 69 passengers and drivers were taken to hospital after the crash late on Wednesday evening. Last night at least seven people remained in a serious or critical condition, including a 14-year-old boy.

One of those who died was named last night as 76-year-old Christine Toner, who was travelling with her husband Jim Toner, a former footballer with Dundee and Leeds United. He was badly injured in the crash. Neighbours said they had been travelling home to Dundee after visiting relatives over the holiday period. The other victim was a man in his 20s, as yet unidentified.

South Central ambulance service admitted last night that the crash had initially been assigned a so-called category B non-urgent status by 999 operators, meaning that it took 14 minutes for the first ambulance to reach the scene.

Last night National Express said 12 double-decker buses had been withdrawn for checks, but most of its 500 fleet were still on the road. "They are being withdrawn as they come to the end of their journeys," a spokesman said.

Hugh Muir and Esther Addley write on 5th January 2007...

Beginning the 500-mile overnight journey between London and Aberdeen, the travellers on National Express service 592 were already weary. It was wet and the coach did not set off from Victoria until 10.30pm. When it left Heathrow airport - half an hour late because of a problem with baggage - many of the 65 passengers were on the edge of sleep.

And then minutes before midnight on Wednesday disaster struck. Gordon Welsh, 73, a retired BT technician who had been on the upper deck, told his daughter Jackie that the coach became destabilised on the curved slip road linking the M4 to the northbound M25. "Dad felt that they touched the kerb, he felt a bump," she said yesterday. "The driver lost control and the bus had gone to the left."

The vehicle toppled on to its side and slid across the carriageway, leaving two passengers dead and up to 60 injured. Many had limbs severed and others had to be cut free from the wreckage. One woman set out with her two children, a girl aged seven months and a three-and-a-half year old boy. All three are believed to have lost arms or legs.

After the impact passengers, many of whom were not wearing seatbelts, were hurled on to hard surfaces, into each other and through windows. Glass and debris from the coach flew along the interior, causing dreadful injuries.

Yesterday, as the 40-year-old coach driver was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, one of the dead was named as Christina Toner, 76, of Dundee, the wife of former Leeds United and Dundee footballer Jimmy Toner. He was seriously injured.

Thirty-six passengers, including those fatally injured, were taken to Hillingdon hospital in west London, where three remained in a serious condition last night. One was in intensive care after surgery. Orthopaedic surgeon David Houlihan-Burne told reporters that many passengers had been "thrown or dragged along grass or mud because there was heavy contamination of all of the wounds".

Of 16 patients admitted to Charing Cross hospital, eight were detained. Two were transferred to Chelsea and Westminster hospital. Seven passengers were taken to West Middlesex hospital in Isleworth, west London. Among them were a one-year-old and a two-year-old child.

Mr Welsh, who had been in London with relatives celebrating his golden wedding anniversary, saw his wife Audrey, 70, thrown past him out of her seat. She suffered a dislocated hip and fractured ribs.

Police declined to name the arrested driver. But the company said he was experienced and had been hired in Scotland. It said most of the passengers on the coach were heading for Glasgow.

A friend of one injured passenger, Eddie Loney, 37, who was returning to Renfrew, said Mr Loney had told him what he believed had happened when he visited him in Charing Cross hospital. Mr Loney believed "the coach was going too fast", the friend said, adding: "It was half an hour late leaving Heathrow and the driver was trying to make up for lost time. He was going around the bend and he had taken it too fast. He lost the back end one way and then the other way and then the third time it headed back towards the central reservation."

Michael Milbourne, 69, was travelling back to his home in Symington, Ayrshire, after spending time with relatives in London. He suffered a fractured vertebra.

His stepbrother James Lant, 51, spent all day with him at Hillingdon hospital. Mr Lant said: "He just said they were coming off the main road when the coach veered to the left then right and then it just lost control. There were people distressed all around him and inside the coach people were on top of one another."

Last night friends paid tribute to Mrs Toner. Neighbour Graham Wood said she and her husband had gone away for Christmas and New Year to stay with relatives. "They were very nice people. He will be devastated."

As survivors recovered, the coach - a Neoplan Skyliner with an electronically controlled braking system - was taken to Oxfordshire for forensic examination.

Another Neoplan Skyliner was involved in a similar crash in France almost four years ago in which 28 people were killed. A report by French authorities into the accident at Dardilly, about 250 miles south-east of Paris, recommended that drivers of double-decker coaches should receive special training. It also suggested that the support structures on double-decker coaches be reinforced.

Last night National Express said 12 double-decker buses had been withdrawn for checks, but most of its 500 fleet were still on the road. "They are being withdrawn as they come to the end of their journeys," a spokesman said. The crash will raise concerns about safety and the reaction of the emergency services. Yesterday Central England Ambulance Service said it took 14 minutes for the first ambulance to arrive because the call had been logged as a category B "not life-threatening" call.

Survivors say many passengers were not wearing seatbelts, although vehicles carry signs urging customers to comply. Drivers re-emphasise the message with microphone announcements.

Stewart Payne, Nicole Martin, Amy Iggulden and Kate Devlin write on 5th January 2007...

A coach driver arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving following a crash near Heathrow Airport in which two passengers died and others had limbs torn from their bodies has been released on bail pending further inquiries.

The National Express double-decker London to Aberdeen night service, with 67 passengers on board, was approaching the M25 when it veered out of control and overturned just before midnight on Wednesday.

Last night National Express withdrew its entire fleet of 12 double-deckers as a precaution in the wake of the crash. A mother and her two children, aged five and three, were among those who lost limbs.

The 47-year-old driver, who has not been named, was arrested after treatment and taken to a Berkshire police station. He has been bailed to return to the police station on Feb 21.

Supt Nick Doyle, of Thames Valley Police, said yesterday: "Our investigation into the collision leads us to believe there is enough evidence for us to interview the driver."

All those on board were taken in 26 ambulances to six hospitals in central London, Berkshire and Surrey.

Surgeons said that seat belts would not have prevented those on the underside of the double-deck coach from receiving horrific injuries caused by jagged metal and broken glass as it slid on its side across the slip road.

At least six suffered severe injuries and dozens more received broken limbs, dislocations, cuts and bruises. Christine Toner, 76, from Dundee, was certified dead on arrival at hospital and a man, thought to be in his late 20s, died later from his injuries.

Most were returning from Christmas and New Year holidays with families and friends. Many of those aboard the night coach to Scotland were elderly, having visited children and grandchildren in the south of England.

Also among them were Poles returning to jobs in Britain and a few younger passengers, snuggling up with their parents, as they settled down for the long journey ahead.

The National Express service 592 which left Heathrow heading for the motorway was 30 minutes behind schedule.

It had started its journey at Victoria in London at 10.30pm before calling at Heathrow. There were to be no more stops before Carlisle, then Hamilton, Glasgow and Dundee and, finally, Aberdeen, a distance of almost 600 miles. It was due to complete its journey at 10.25am yesterday.

There were 69 people on board the 77-seat double-decker, including the driver and co-driver. Some were reading or chatting, others hoping to sleep, as the coach drove along the M4 and on to the sliproad to join the M25 at junction 15 at 11.45pm.

What happened next turned a mundane journey into horror, tragedy and carnage.

Some passengers claim the coach was travelling fast as it exited a deceptively long bend in the sliproad – the driver appearing anxious to make up for time lost to baggage delays at Heathrow. Others talk of a tyre blowing out.

In any event the driver, who has not been named, lost control and wrestled with the wheel as the coach slewed into a metal barrier, then veered back into the two-lane road, before lurching violently and overturning.

It crashed on to its right side and, as the momentum carried it forward, windows and bodywork were ripped apart, leaving jagged metal and broken glass. Passengers on the off-side suffered horrendous injuries. Several, including a mother and her two young children, had limbs severed or torn off.

Those on the other side were held in place by seat belts or were thrown on top of the desperately injured beneath them.

The first 999 was at 11.49pm and the first ambulance arrived 14 minutes later. Passing motorists tried to help. They heard screams, cries for help, and did what they could for the few who managed to scramble free.

Ahead lay a long and dreadful night as teams of doctors and paramedics worked alongside the fire crews.

First the walking wounded were led away, as many as 47 of them. Another 21 were lifted out on stretchers, six with severe injuries. It was not until 1.50am that the last passenger was removed.

Those who had limbs torn off had to be medically stabilised before it was safe to attempt to move them.

A fleet of 26 ambulances took the passengers to six hospitals in Berkshire, Surrey and south-west London.

Christine Toner, 76, from Dundee, was dead on arrival at hospital. She was the wife of Jimmy Toner, a footballer in the 1950s who won two Scottish League Cup medals with Dundee FC.

A man in his late 20s, who police have still been unable to identify, died shortly after he was admitted to hospital.

David Houlihan-Burne, an orthopaedic surgeon at Hillingdon Hospital, said: "No limbs needed to be amputated to remove the casualties. The amputations were traumatic, as part of the accident itself."

Some "patients were thrown or dragged along grass or mud because there was heavy contamination of all of the wounds. Whether they were ejected from the vehicle or not I don't know, but the injuries were consistent with that".

The surgeon said that for those patients on the underside of the coach, even seat belts would not have protected them from serious injury.

Gordon Welsh, 73, was travelling home to Skye with his wife Audrey, 70, after celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary with family.

Mr Welsh, who fractured his shoulder and hurt his lower back, told relatives he saw his wife "fly past him". After the crash he could only reach out and touch her hair to let her know he was there.

Mrs Welsh, who suffered a dislocated hip and fractured ribs, was trapped and had to be taken out by ambulance crews. Both were taken to St Peter's Hospital, Chertsey, Surrey. Their daughter Jackie, of Virginia Water, Surrey, said: "Dad felt the coach touch the kerb. He felt a bump and then the driver lost control."

The coach swerved to the left and toppled. Mr and Mrs Welsh were sitting upstairs, on the left-hand side and did not take the full impact.

Greg Grimes said his father Peter, 45, from Fulham, west London, was sitting on the window side when the coach toppled. "As it skidded along he managed to hold three people in and stop them falling out," he said.

Michael Milbourne, 69, a retired printer from Symington, Scotland, who suffered a fractured vertebrae and cuts, told his family that the coach was going fast.

His stepbrother, James Lant, 51, said: "All of a sudden the coach started rocking to the right and left. It then started to spin around before going on to two wheels and falling on to one side.

"When my brother opened his eyes he had two or three people on top of him. He thought the guy next to him was dead because he had a glazed look on his face." Eddy Loney, 37, a pipe fitter from Renfrew, was returning to Scotland from his job at Heathrow.

A friend who saw him in hospital said: "The driver lost the back end once, then it came back, then he lost it the other way.

"By then they were heading for the reservation."

Lau writes on 26th December 2006...

You can't make this stuff up.

I got the National Express on Saturday to come and visit my family in the countryside over Christmas. The usual melée ensued at Victoria, with everyone standing outside the glass doors crushing forwards towards the coaches that were nowhere near ready to board, elbows sharp and faces set. I negotiated all of this in my usual way - headphones firmly in, The Shins blaring out, bags dragged resolutely forward. So far so normal.

When I got to the front of the queue for boarding I handed my e-ticket to an elderly gentleman who was standing by the door. His hands were shaking a little as he peered closely at the piece of paper. "Where you going, love?" he asked. I told him and gently pointed at the word on the ticket. "Oh, I can't see that love, I ain't got me glasses...that's fine, on you go".

Surely he wasn't driving, I thought as I boarded the coach. Knowing from a hundred previous journeys that there was always a driver and a driver's mate, I assumed this man was the latter, in charge of checking tickets and loading bags, not responsible for 50 peoples' lives. I settled in to my comfortable sleep, napped and listened to music and arrived at my destination in pitch darkness.

As I exited the coach I was horrified to see the old, shaky, squinty man was indeed the driver. It's been a lucky week.

Labels: bus

posted by Lau at 7:00 PM
2 Comments:

Adrian said...

I assume he was long sighted.

Still glad you didn't do the crashy thing. That would be bad.
10:40 PM
Lau said...

Yeah, crashing is sooooo last year.
11:57 PM